Bruno Fernandes has been eviscerated in the Mailbox but there is plenty of time and space to thank Ange Postecoglou for making Spurs interesting again.
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State of affairs
It’s been interesting reading which players could end up where, and why on 365 (and the Guardian – do I get my credentials badge now?)
And yet in none of the articles do Tottenham feature. Recent Europa League winners and therefore, hilariously, Champions League participants next season, and…..nothing. Not a thing.
Levy is surely the only person on God’s green earth capable of taking all the exuberance of that night, and the bidding farewell of seventeen years of hurt, and turn it into…well, not quite sure really. A club in limbo? A club in purgatory waiting for the final sentencing – Levy growing like the Genie in Aladdin, great swirling dark clouds filled with acid rain, ready to flood the club once again in his mediocrity.
I know, I know – chill out, but we’ve seen this film far too often to think otherwise.
Dan
Farewell to a Spurs legend
I think we all knew it was coming, but the news breaking still hurt:
The Ange era is over at Spurs.
Many fans were sick of him. Many in the media and from other clubs ridiculed him. But I’m very much one of the many Spurs fans who was inspired by Ange Postecoglou, who’s grateful for his time at the club, and who will genuinely miss him as the leader of the team.
Modern football has hooked us all. Most of us caught the bug when we were young, and now we’re eternally afflicted.
But as time has gone by, the clubs are changing – every day the clubs become more like modern commercial franchises, and the players often become more like celebrity megastars, rather than clubmen. This is all very normal, and not necessarily wrong, but sometimes it can make it less magnetic to be so invested in your team, and a group of players.
After Poch, through no conscious choice, I found myself tuning out of Spurs a bit. Nothing major, just reading about them less often, fewer podcasts, watching fewer games. I cared less when we lost. I remember very little from the Mourinho Era, and nothing from Nuno.
Conte piqued my interest, but like many, I was as jaded as he was by the end of his tenure.
And then came Ange.
(Largely) unheralded, ‘unproven’ at the top level. As Daniel Levy even put it “We tried bringing in winners, but now we’ve got Ange.”
But he came with a vision of changing Spurs. He had no interested being a mercenary coming in for a quick buck, and jumping for a bigger job. He wasn’t aloof and above us. This was a man who was excited by the challenge: Taking an iconic club, who’s spent far too long away from success, and rewiring the whole culture and style of the club, to make us an exciting, winning football team again. In the modern world of football, having someone like this with a vision, and a passion – you couldn’t help but be swept up with it.
An absolute breath of fresh air.
You could see from the beginning, not only the fans loved ‘Angeball’ – the players loved it too. No longer were they told that they were ‘just Tottenham’. It was now “We’re Spurs, mate!” And the player played with a pride and vigour I hadn’t seen in years.
After a beautiful first 10 games, what followed was 19 months of lunacy. A scattering of brief, glorious highs amidst a torrent of abject awful defeats. Crazy injuries, suspensions, shapeless formations, batterings. Following Spurs under Ange for 2 years probably aged me 10.
But even still, it was exciting. Exciting to see a manager who trusted his vision, and a group of players who trusted that manager.
MORE POSTECOGLOU SACK REACTION
👉 England manager Thomas Tuchel speaks out after Tottenham’s ‘horrible’ Ange Postecoglou sacking
👉 Five next move options for Ange Postecoglou post-Tottenham sack include Leeds United, Everton
👉 Spurs face ‘player revolt’ over Ange sack as ‘so angry’ stars seek exit in aftermath of brutal decision
Now let’s be fair: Ange wasn’t perfect. In January this year, many would say he should’ve been sacked with Spurs floundering in the league. Ange knew the writing on the wall, and he had to make a choice: If he pulled up his socks, and bet the house on recovering in the league, he probably could have got Spurs to a somewhat respectable 9th or 10th (remember, they could’ve finished as high as 14th on the final day). But Ange knew that would achieve nothing: He’d lose his job anyway, and more importantly, he’d have left no impact on Spurs – just another grey, forgettable season.
So he went full rogue, threw the Premier League out the window and bet the house on doing the one thing that could change the entire mentality (and modern history) of Tottenham: Winning the Europa League.
Ange gave Spurs fans and players one of the greatest experiences they’ll have in a lifetime of football. Arsenal fans can whinge about second tier trophies or whatever, but it doesn’t matter. Those players remember the feeling on the pitch, and those fans remember the parade, the confetti, the noise in Bilbao. Incredible.
Ange leaves now with his head held high. He leaves with promises kept (He always wins things in his second season, mate) and have no doubt, he’ll rightly lap up all the credit for years to come on being the man who conquered the Spurs curse.
Is it the right decision to move on? As an Ange fan, I have to say no. I think getting rid of Ange will send negative ripples through the team – he’s a leader to those players and they love him. He’s brought them the success he promised. It’s a huge challenge for whoever comes next.
But what does the logical Spurs fan say? Maybe it is time. Maybe it’s even best for Ange – it might never have got better than this. Leave now as a hero, don’t wait and become the Villain.
So who knows what lies ahead under Thomas Frank or whoever. I just hope my Spurs interest doesn’t wane again. It will take a serious contender to bring back the kind of excitement that Postecoglou did.
Farewell Big Ange. Thanks for everything, mate!
Andy, Spurs, Eire
Relief
As an Arsenal fan from Australia I can finally go back to thoroughly disliking Sp*rs.
What a relief!
Andrew
Crying wolf
I don’t write in often but that mail from Badwolf left a bad taste in my mouth.
A lot of this is a repeat from my comment so apologies for that but…
Is Badwolf really just the Utd version of Stewie? So Bruno doesn’t want to go to Saudi Arabia and waste his life playing meaningless football in a joke league (look at how many goals Ronaldo is still scoring). Everyone else gets slated for moving there but god forbid Bruno doesn’t. I say fair play for not selling his soul.
We don’t need the money – if you actually look how Utd finances work Big Jim was vastly overstating our position and, for now, can still afford to keep him. Especially if we sell some of the redundant homegrown players but even if not.
Rashford had one good season. He was possibly the most selfish player in the league, and one worldie pass doesn’t change that. He isn’t wanted because he just isn’t that good, and his attitude stinks.
As for Mount…how do you replace a player who is there week in, week out with a player who is never actually fit? Maybe BW wants us to play with 10 men and a permacrocked waste of money.
Bruno has been, without question, our best player since he joined. He might be a moaner, but so was Keane. I get opposition fans railing on him, as we do to their players, but maybe actually stand by the team and stick up for our players?
Whether he should be captain is a different question, but his numbers in a shambles of a team have been, year in and year out, world class, and if you want to state otherwise provide actual proof to the contrary instead of just moaning.
I, as always, will go into the new season with my usual optimism and allow it to be drained over the course of the year.
Andrew, a true MUFC fan
The ‘crying little weakling’
I know that I’m late to the subject on Bruno but I would just like to say this…the reason why people (football fans) don’t like Bruno and see him as an arm waving, selfish, whiny baby despite his great effort on the pitch, his consistency (compare availability with similar attacking midfielder like Odegard who seems to be injured all the time or Palmer who is talented but volatile), leadership skills- he does organize Man Utd’s play, defensive skills and clear motivation towards achieving victory for his team(his stats tell it all-he is truly world class) is simple.
He is not handsome(appealing) enough to tempt most football fans.He does not appeal to football fans the way they would with other players in the same position, he displays a guilty face whenever he misses a chance or when he makes a mistake.
He parades himself as the one responsible for any failure on the pitch that leads to defeat and seems almost about to cry (for contrast-compare Vieira/Keane reaction to a mistake,they were either angry or keen on making amends-which is highly appealing to fans).
Bruno is not stoic, he displays his feelings and weaknesses for everyone to see(compare this with other players-even Martin “amateur photographer” Odegard doesn’t display himself that much). This ultimately opens him to criticism,with fans seeing only a weak, guilty, whiny face.
This coupled with inability to achieve victory for his team makes him a very ripe target because as much as we(football fans) may like to deny it, it is inescapable to admit that football is a cosmetic sport-we like the tough guy displays(Vieira, Keane-their manly fights), the electrifying displays(both Ronaldos, Henry-that goal against Liverpool, Hazard, Ribery), the man against all odds display(Wayne Rooney-that overhead kick, Vardy, Fabio cannavaro-a dwarf who rose above giants to claim victory), the stoic display(Tony Adams,Paolo Maldini and to a lesser extent Virgil).
Bruno is ugly because he presents himself as a crying little weakling who is seeking our pity for his losses.
Jamo, Nairobi.
I think he is a really bad player and a bully. He has bad technique gives the ball away more than any other midfielder in the league. He controls the game to make himself look good. He is a crybaby, cheats a lot with fouls.
He is the reason united have done so badly. I thought he was a fake from the first day he arrived at united, he has really dragged them into the gutter. No united striker will score with Bruno in the team, he is supposed to be the creator but it’s something he simply can’t do he might get lucky once in a while but it’s all luck.
United please sell him. Compare him to any player in his position and you will find he is the worst , hang on what is Bruno’s position
Derrick
I am happy they keeping Ferendes because he will not improve the team. He will score a few penalties and they will say he his world class.
They are going to struggle for another season. Ha ha keep it up MU.
Mohan
Totally agree. Should have been sold to Saudi league. He is stopping any youth development at Utd
Gordon
Nem and shame
For a change of subject, I see in my news feed that Nemanja Matic is facing a 2 match ban in France for covering anti-homophobia messages on his shirt.
And it turns out not only was he not alone, but others have previously done it too.
I’d love to say it was only in France, but while I’m sure it happens elsewhere (in particular Spain) it also happens in our own fair country. Mazraoui (I’m sure he wasn’t the only player in the country) refused to wear Pride-supporting clothing on more than one occasion while at United and as a result the whole side didn’t either, presumably “in solidarity”. What about solidarity with people being abused for existing?!?
I am fully accepting of people having the right to not wear something; tolerating other people’s beliefs is important. But why should a community be shunned rather than supported because one member has beliefs that don’t align with the general accepted view. At least in France it was those players that stood alone and will be punished alone.
If you don’t want to stand against x or y behaviour that is widely accepted as bad, then don’t play that match (and frankly, what are clubs doing giving these guys money if they’re pro-homophobia or anti equal rights). It doesn’t correspond to your personal beliefs? Ok, your choice, but they should be the ones out of step with the rest, not the rest align *with* them.
You can question whether these items of clothing and messages actually make any difference, and that’s fair, but it’s surely the duty of the society to stand up for what we believe.
Should we forget about challenging racism because some racists don’t agree? How about domestic and sexual abusers? Where do you draw the line?
Badwolf
The baited hook
I see the bait was taken including Eric Bailly in my B Team (over Beckenbauer of course)
JDB
The N Team
Neuer
Nesta
Nasarri
Neville, P
Neville, G
Neeskens
Netzer
Nedved
Neymar
Nordahl
Look, Phil Neville is in the team so you know that was a tough one! If I was to stick to my originally planned 4-3-3, I’d have had to have gone with Nasri, therefore in comes Netzer as an extra midfielder. Not bad but perhaps the Crystal palace of an fantasy alphabetty Premier league. Good luck to the Q team!
Nick
The T Team
I’d written an M team but had McTominay ahead of Makelele, so I’ll have another go with a T team.
I have to have watched them play.
Toldo
Thuram (L), Terry, Tchouameni, Toure (K),
Thiago, Toure (Y), Totti
Toni, Torres, Trezeguet